Jamie’s Brain

I’ve been angry because I can’t go to Europe to catch NIN’s tour there. So, instead, I was able to get a small fix by attending the World Premier of their upcoming live performance DVD, Beside You In Time.

The screening took place last night at Slim’s, a small live music venue with a capacity of about 450. Doors opened at 7p- so I got there at 5 just to be sure, since it was free and all and they sold no tickets. Well, there was only a handful of people there at that point. It was cold and drizzling, and it seemed that fan dedication was a lot less than I had expected.

I stood in line with my friend, Eryn, who was there more to see me in full freak mode than anything. Some guy in front of us was going on and on and on about government conspiracies to these two poor souls. This is what happens when you have a free show in San Francisco.

We finally are let in. I get my preorder ‘coupon’ and litho right away. Initially, the guy made it sound like he was selling me the DVD for $5. Nope. I have to go to Rasputin and then I get $5 off, but whatever.

So they are playing Collected while we wait. An edited version. Yeah, you heard me. “I wanna *beep* you like an animal”…..”just a fading *beep* reminder of who I used to be”….yeah. What the *beep*? Lame. Interscope definitely didn’t seem to care much for quality control- the screens had tears in it, and apparently someone was able to get away with recording the whole thing.

Everyone is much more chill than I expected. People calmly sat down on the floor in a few rows in the front or lingered around in the back. The club was no where near capacity. Where were you, Spiralers???

And then it began. And it was beautiful. And I finally got to see what was projected on those screens that I was so pissed off about before. What was obstructing my view in the front row was actually pretty cool looking for the people in the back.

I am reminded of how awesome it is to watch Aaron North. The way he moves is just fantastic. Plus, I love his facial expressions. However, the best part of the DVD is when Trent opens his eyes. He must have been instructed to do this or something because it was being filmed, because we all know he pretty much never does this normally. The way the lighting is at that part is fantastic. So fantastic that I can’t even remember what song it happens during. I can’t wait to get it so that I can watch the extras, since Slim’s didn’t show those.

It was a fun night, getting my little NIN fix. But I left wanting more. Why does San Francisco not have an industrial music club??? I would love to be able to go somewhere that played Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Joy Division, etc…and didn’t throw a Fergalicious in there or something. Hmmm….